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Kirumi Tojo's Palace | The Ultimate Maid's Failures
By now everyone may be used to find themselves in bizarre locations, between going into palaces and visiting Nekyia. It might not come as a surprise that it has happened again.
What might come as a surprise, though...is how empty this place is.
All around you there's nothing more than a large, gray, featureless expanse. In the distance there seem to be bars, curving upwards to gather so, so high above you, possibly hundreds of miles above, so high it’s hard to distinguish.
It’s a cage. So unfathomably large. You could escape, were you to get to the edges of the cage, but...it would take forever. No matter how you look at it, you're trapped. The atmosphere is so...hopeless. Devoid of anything even remotely positive.
Not that you want to hang around for long, do you? After all, this is someone's palace. Not a place to stick around at. What to do, though?
It’s all so...empty. Silent. Featureless. A flat expanse of hard gray tiles.
Gather together, everyone. Gather and choose a direction. North, East, West, South. All directions look completely identical, but could it affect your time in this place, somehow? Probably not. But all treks start with the first step. Perhaps, if you get moving, you'll progress?
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[Enter the library!
At first glance, it doesn't seem like anything is...strange? It sure isn't a blood feast! No horrible corpses lying around right on sight! But the smell of blood is unmistakable.
Aaron is currently on the right end of the library -- the right end of this image, pretty much. He won't even need to roll for perception to feel that he's not alone here. At the far end of the library, he'll be able to see will-o-wisps. They're not attacking Aaron, though. They're just...keeping to themselves at the other end of the library.
The library doors close behind Aaron, sealing him into this place]
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Assuming that doesn't work, he will click his tongue and draw his swords just in case, although he won't rush the wisps. He's used to these kinds of monsters being hard to hit with physical attacks anyway!!
In any case, as long as they leave him alone, he will go check that globe because it stands out. Who knows, maybe someone could fit in there??]
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It's a very cool globe, admittedly! And Aaron will see...
...will see nothing blood-related here. What he will notice, though, is that the globe is loose. It wouldn't take much strength to dislodge it from its base.
Other than that tidbit, it doesn't seem like there's anything odd about the globe.
The wisps over them stop floating, and are staring at Aaron. They're gathering closer to each other, wary of Aaron, trying to keep some space and going towards a corner of the library away from him]
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Also while I'm at it, is that square opening(?) at the top right corner a vent or something else?]
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The globe is detached from its base, and you find no hidden switches. What you do find, though, is that when you detach the globe from its base, the globe rolls away.
...........
Perhaps it's sudden, but...the wisps aren't around anymore. The feeling of being watched hasn't gone away, even though the wisps seem to be gone?]
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Okay, well. He's just going to kick this dumb globe away, and possibly into the corner where the wisps were before they disappeared.
i dunno if this is what you were imagining when you made this investigation nick but we're sure going to fuck around and find out]
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The globe is kicked at the corner where the wisps were once at, and when the globe gets there, there's a sound of books falling from the farthest point of the bookshelves, on the darkest corner of the library. Several books just fell -- apparently, they were pushed from the top of the bookshelf. Doesn't look like it was serendipity!
Approach that corner? Get away from that corner?]
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At the base of the bookshelf, there's a large pool of blood, still wet and sticky. No wonder it smelled like blood in this library! On the other side of the pool there's something lying on the floor, a bit soaked with blood but still usable -- a piece of paper with something written on it?
Aaron would have only a couple seconds to react, because when he approaches a little towards that place, behind him, someone swings the globe Aaron dislodged, aiming for Aaron's head, trying to slam it onto Aaron's skull. With a (15) from the attacker, it managed to attack without alerting Aaron of its cowardly attack!
Regardless of how Aaron reacts, when he takes a look, he'll see...
...it's Eli. Eli, attacking Aaron with the damn globe]
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I'm not sure if that was a combat action or not, so feel free to get me to edit this later if the 15 is a guaranteed hit, but!! Otherwise Aaron's instincts aren't going to steer him wrong here, because he senses danger and he automatically dives off to the side into a somersault (15), avoiding the globe aimed for his globe. Once he's back on his feet, he'll take a clearer look at his attacker and... welp.]
The hell?! When'd you even get here?
[He's not going to attack yet, because he has already seen Too Much Palace Bullshit to trust that this isn't some kind of trick. Even in the worst case scenario where Eli's been manipulated into attacking him, Aaron would rather try and resolve this without stabbings if possible.]
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Seeing Aaron dodge makes this fake Eli scowl. He doesn't even try to convince Aaron he's the real one. The voice is identical, but his tone is more biting than Aaron might have heard]
...killing...game...
[...okay, maybe he's not trying to convince Aaron because Monokuma didn't create convincing copies of their personalities. What a ramshackle work!
What he did, though, is give Eli ways to kill. Channeling fire attacks through the globe, Eli sweeps a stream of fire towards Aaron. I rolled a 3, so it's not a direct hit, but still, it's blazes in a relatively enclosed space at this corner of the library. Watch out for heated air!
Fire in a library! Madness!]
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Ironically though, the fire use will be what ultimately tips him off that this isn’t the real deal. Even if Eli was brainwashed somehow, he knows his element is ice and he’d much rather be dealing with that right about now. Moving away from that heated air, he summons his Persona to launch a Giant Slice (18) at the doppel(i)gänger.]
How about you show me your own ugly mug instead of hiding behind that one?
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...I am me...! El I!
[Real convincing argument from it, eh? Eli seems to change tactics -- he tosses the globe upwards, and then when it's returning down he kicks it as if it were a ginormous soccer ball, at Aaron, attempting to crush him with it against a bookshelf, spill his blood to add it to the splatter already here!
Oh, I rolled a 13 about that. Well that was more effective than I thought it'd be!]
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Tch. Even the knight would it off—-
[aaaand then there comes the globe
on the plus side, not spewing fire everywhere means a smaller chance of them both dying in a fire!! on the other hand, ow that hurts. It doesn’t quite manage to crush him against the bookcase but it does make him step back into it when he reels from the hit.
Because that pissed him off, he’s going to try kicking that globe right back at Eli 2… or I guess it’d be Elii. And then Avrae punishes me for my wordplay with a 7, so that globe is going to miss rip.]
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Yeah, he's getting a deluge of books -- but it could be worse, because the wisps tried to set them on fire before pushing them, and that failed. It's normal books, more fitting as a blunt weapon than as an incendiary object. The sight of Aaron not being on fire via book burning makes Eli scowl]
I can't do anything right...
[He runs straight at Aaron, intending to brawl it, leaving himself wide open to attacks. Success for Aaron's next turn is 5-20]
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He may not have the full context for book burning, but he does have a (mental) book full of burns that he’s willing to deliver right now!!]
Looks to me like you’re doing pretty well at getting your ass beat, so lemme give you another hand with that!
[or maybe that’s just being a sick. In any case, after metaphorically kicking knock-off Eli (Kelli??) while he’s down, he follows that up with an actual kick, right to the face (17).]
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It's as if the kick made something unstable into Eli's entire self, because he falls to the floor, trembling, but unable to fight.
Aaron, if he's perceptive enough, may hear the noise of a camera taking a picture. Immediately afterwards, Eli explodes.
Not literally, really. It's a puff of smoke, and then where he used to be, there are about five will-o-wisp demons, glaring at Aaron. No wonder they had been gone, they were busy becoming Eli.
One of them fires Agi, and this one does set things on fire effectively. A bookcase burst into flames, and the dry paper starts spreading all over the place! Oh, not good!
The good news is that a will-o-wisp is tremendously weak and therefore you don't have to target them individually, your attacks probably will hit the entire group]
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Aaron won't lose his balance nor he's in actual danger of being pushed, but he's got ghostly fire against him. That's scalding hot! Watch out for burns from contact, any fabric is starting to get singed!]
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He likes his clothes so he’s going to try and sidestep around the wisps so he doesn’t end up on fire!! He also makes a swing with one of his swords but of course Avrae stops cooperating the moment you basically lay out an easy kill for him because I roll a 4. Weeeeeee]
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The lone wisp, seeing all of its companions are now gone, would sweat if it wasn't a hot (and not in the sexy way for aaron) ember floating around. Instead, it glances at what's beyond the pool of blood -- the paper Aaron had seen earlier. The wisp looks at Aaron and then hurries to float over there, to try to reach it, planning to incinerate the one thing in this library that could be of any use to anyone.
It's such a spiteful move! There goes the wisp, to try to get there!]
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anyways, he will of course go after it!! I assume rolls don’t matter much here but here’s a badly aimed garu (8) in the vicinity of the wisp to hopefully finish it off!!]
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You know what, I'll make it matter. Aaron's misaimed garu spell makes a bunch of papers fly in the air, hitting Aaron in the face and smearing dust and ink across his face. He looks like instead of walking he crawled on his face all the way across the library. That, coupled with the scorch marks from the wisps attacking you from up-close, means Aaron is in a very sorry state right now!
But the wisp is dead. You're done!. The doors of the library open, and from above a t-shirt descends at Aaron. It has Monokuma giving a thumbs up. 'I KILLED ELI AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT']
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this is the worst loot he could have gotten!! is it even in his size………
he debates just leaving it there but as a jrpg character he’s compelled to pick it up even if he definitely doesn’t want it!! maybe he’ll light it up once he’s in a less flammable place.
anyways, there’s nothing stopping him from actually investigating unless you decide to jumpscare me with something else I guess!! so let’s take a look at that paper that was lying near/in the blood pool]
Danganronpa V3 Spoilers
When Aaron picks up the paper, he'll find it's a music score. When he picks up, he gets a fleeting vision.
Danganronpa V3 spoilers
A luminous place, full of cogs. A gigantic piano. Fourteen teenagers around her, all of them watching something that's currently at the keys of the piano.
It's a girl. A blonde girl, being suspended with a rope by the neck, while Monokuma, as an orchestra director, directs other more colorful stuffed bears to move the girl around, making her press keys.
It doesn't take much thought to know what that kind of damange that can do to anyone's neck.
A sensation of horror, utter revulsion, and strong grief fills Aaron -- feelings Kirumi probably felt at that time. She watched the execution, until the girl wasn't moving...and the keyboard of the piano snaps shut, squishing the girl.
On the back of the score, there's something written with Kirumi's neat handwriting.
'I will keep your piano in perfect condition until the day we escape this school.'
The vision proves one thing very clearly: even though Kirumi kept a strong, stoic face in front of adversity, she's just as vulnerable as any other person. She was...just a teenager in a place full of horror. Incredible maid or not, she was just a teenager, with the reactions of one]
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